Friday, May 14, 2010

When it comes to Phish shows, 1994 is my favorite year – specifically Fall ’94. However, at the start of the Spring tour, the band was in a transitional phase between their speed -jazz jamming style, and the psychedelic madness that would later ensue. Several of the shows that took place around this time altered the game for Phish. It was truly a time of discovery for the band and their fans. No longer were their jams guitar-led shredfests. Instead, a collective energy would come together forging a new sound that began to emerge during the early months of Spring 1994. During this time, the band’s improvisational groove was evolving on a nightly basis. Following the “Tweezerfest” on 5.7 all barriers were torn down, allowing the band to embrace a very risky jamming style. With fewer song references in their jams, their improvisation became more like songwriting on the spot. Today’s show highlights this transition and shows the band letting it loose, allowing their music to guide them.

“Phish 3D” has been roundly criticized, not so much for what it is, but for what it isn’t. And what it isn’t is Metallica’s “Some Kind of Monster,” or any other “Behind the Music”- type documentary that attempts to tell the story of the musicians and their fans in a neat and linear fashion. The only drama in “Phish 3D” comes via the music itself, its performance, and its reception by the tens of thousands of fans who attended the three-day “Festival 8” event.

So it’s a concert film, then. A wise choice, to focus on the music, for the film is aimed at the genuine Phish-head, not the casual observer who might wonder what all the fuss is about, or just what the hippies have gotten themselves all worked up over this time.